Greatest Athlete Of All-Time Is...

Father time is undefeated

Brett Favre.

Dr Doctor wrote:

Never missed a season, or significant amount of time, due to injury in one of the most unforgiving and grueling sports

He went two years without finishing a marathon (several DNS/DNFs), with only a couple shorter races in between, and even since hasn't finished one. In that way he is no better than Hall.

Haile is certainly the best distance runner, but I still consider Carl Lewis the best track athlete. He was more versatile, sprinting and jumping (a much rarer combo than 5K/10K/marathon), and was at the top for longer. Haile only won medals in 2 Olympics, Lewis won golds at 4, maybe could have won medals at 5 if he could have gone in 1980.

Eddy Merckx

or

Kelly Slater

or

Reinhold Messner

longevity is overrated.

I'd say both King Carl and Bekele are greater.

Hell, almost any decathlete is a better overall athlete than any distance runner.

John Holmes

Of course, I should say that Bekele and Carl Lewis are both dirty, but so was Geb so fair playing field.

the recipe for mast tasster wrote:

Of course, I should say that Bekele and Carl Lewis are both dirty, but so was Geb so fair playing field.

Well - we know Lewis tested positive. Neither Bekele or Geb have tested positive as far as we know.

pr100 wrote:

the recipe for mast tasster wrote:

Of course, I should say that Bekele and Carl Lewis are both dirty, but so was Geb so fair playing field.

Well - we know Lewis tested positive. Neither Bekele or Geb have tested positive as far as we know.

Two words: Jos Hermans

Messner, the Alpinist. Google him.

runner who professes wrote:

Messner, the Alpinist. Google him.

How many medals did he win?

lotta geb's rep depends on his wr breaking on track

big + for him was reclaiming 5k/10k wrs in '98

he probably shoudn't have got either back :

- tergat's 26'27wr was run off a slow 5k : 13'18 then gradually speeding up with an incredible 7'50 last 3k ( 26'06 pace !!! )

he probably wouda run 26'15 - 26'20 at even pace & geb wouda had helluva tough time fetching that

- komen of '98 indoor season was probably best distance runner of alltime

in his 7'24.9wr, he jogged for 2k & blasted the last 1k - probably capable of 7'21i/7'22i at even pace

i'd bet my bottom $ he was in outdoor shape of

~ 7'17/7'18

his 12'51i was similar

a jog to 3k ~ on pace for geb's 12'59wr, some speeding & blitzkrieged the last 1.5k

he probably couda gone 12'42.5i - 12'45i that day at even pace

outdoors, that is shape of

~ 12'33/12'34

there was no way in hell geb was fetching that & not even the kennster

komen was probably in best 3k or 5k shape of all time in that brief window early '98

Michael MF Jordan.

Athleticism merged with fierce competitiveness. Agility, speed, coordination, explosiveness, reflexes, mental quickness and toughness...

tiger pebble beach '00...

the recipe for mast tasster wrote:

pr100 wrote:

Well - we know Lewis tested positive. Neither Bekele or Geb have tested positive as far as we know.

Two words: Jos Hermans

They deserve credit for getting away with it

the recipe for mast tasster wrote:

longevity is overrated.

I'd say both King Carl and Bekele are greater.

Hell, almost any decathlete is a better overall athlete than any distance runner.

I agree that longevity is overrated. Carl was special (among many other reasons) due to prowess in track AND field, but part of what made him great was his longevity at the top.

I agree that Bekele might be slightly better than Geb, but their similar resumes makes their claim to all-sport GOAT fairly weak.

Some on my list:

Bubka - ahead of his time, put up huge, almost unbelievable performances, and dominated for a very long time (also want to argue for Warmerdam, but we'll keep this argument more modern).

Michael Jordan - I don't think we need an explanation

Bo Jackson - redefined the standard for being a freakish athlete

John Brzenk - Okay, I don't follow armwrestling, but after watching the "Pulling John" documentary, This guy has to be in the conversation even if he was the best in a fairly obscure sport.

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

2 gold and a silver in track and field in the 1932 Olympics, 41 wins on the LPGA tour (including 10 majors), All-American at basketball, set 4 Track and Field world records in one day (javelin, hurdles, high jump, baseball throw), and was an excellent diver, swimmer and bowler. She could also sing and shoot pool.

Dr Doctor wrote:

combination of dominance, longevity, consistency, durability, achievement, range, degree of difficulty of sport, and competition depth of sport, gap over rivals/competitors in sport

Bill Russell destroyes Haile on all counts.

Here are Hailes weaknesses: degree of difficulty of sport, competition depth of sport, gap over rivals/competitors.